Fans of House of the Dragon have spent years comparing the HBO series with George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, and one major omission continues to stand out. Now, one of the show’s stars has revealed that she is also surprised that the character has never made it onto the screen.

Gayle Rankin, who plays Alys Rivers, recently discussed the missing character Mushroom in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Rankin expressed particular appreciation for the way Mushroom describes Alys in the original book, noting that those accounts add another fascinating layer to the mysterious Targaryen-era figure.

Rankin was especially intrigued by the unusual lore surrounding Alys, including the book’s claims that she bathes in the blood of young women. She described the material surrounding Alys as fascinating because it offers a different perspective on the character and provides additional insight into how George R.R. Martin conceived her.

For Rankin, Alys represents a powerful and mysterious woman whose story allows the television adaptation to explore female power in a different way. That made Mushroom’s perspective particularly interesting to her, which is why she jokingly questioned where the character has been throughout the series.

Who Is Mushroom in Fire and Blood?

In Fire and Blood, Mushroom is a dwarf and eccentric court jester who served under four Targaryen rulers, including Aegon II and Rhaenyra Targaryen.

His alleged stories about life inside the Red Keep are collected in a section known as The Testimony of Mushroom, presented as an account documented by an anonymous scribe. Because Mushroom claims to have witnessed events surrounding the Dance of the Dragons, his version of history has become one of the most notable perspectives in Martin’s fictional history of the Targaryen dynasty.

Yet despite his importance in the source material, Mushroom has never appeared in House of the Dragon.

That omission has not gone unnoticed by fans who know the book, particularly because Mushroom’s controversial accounts provide a very different perspective on many of the events and characters portrayed in the HBO adaptation.

With Season 3 now concluded, however, the opportunity to introduce him is becoming increasingly limited. The series has only one season remaining, with the fourth and final season currently in development and expected to arrive on HBO in 2028.

Whether Mushroom will finally appear before the Targaryen story reaches its conclusion remains unknown.

House of the Dragon stars Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Steve Toussaint, Olivia Cooke, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Gayle Rankin, and others.

Source: Various Sources